often angry. always gen x.

the 113th congress– towards a more perfect union

While I’m not holding my breath for the 113th to magically improve upon the dreadful 112th and other recent showings of abyssmal congressional performance, greater diversity in our elected leadership is long overdue. It’s absurd how much white male bellicose posturing still passes for political discourse in Washington. You may say that no amount of diversity will change the tenor of politics; well, I’d love to see that experiment in equality play out and see who’s right. We’ve got quite a ways to go until Congress truly reflects the demographics of these United States, but what encouraging strides in the November 2011 election.

WASHINGTON — As the 113th Congress opens, the Senate and the House are starting to look a little bit more like the people they represent.

The new Congress includes a record number of wom en (101 across both chambers, counting three nonvoting members), as well as various firsts for the numbers of Latinos and Asians as well as Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. But it was the rise of the female legislator — 20 in the Senate and 81 in the House — that had the Capitol thrumming with excited potential on Thursday.

…This Congress promises to be more diverse than its predecessors in several ways. On hand at the Capitol were Tammy Baldwin, Democrat of Wisconsin, the first openly gay senator; the first Hindu representative, Ms. Gabbard; and Mazie Hirono, Democrat of Hawaii, the first Buddhist senator. Representative Kyrsten Sinema, Democrat of Arizona, also became the first openly bisexual member to serve in Congress.

Although the number of black legislators remained at 43, Tim Scott, previously a Republican House member from South Carolina, became the first black senator from his state, as well as the first black Republican in the Senate since 1979.

First black Republican since 1979?? Join the 21st century with us some day, Republicans.

Representative Nancy Pelosi and Democratic women of the House before the opening of the 113th Congress (photo: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)